Invincible class
Description This ship was the favourite project of Admiral Lord Fisher. Admiral Fishers favourite phrase was "Speed is the best protection", and thus his ideal warship was to be extremely fast, as weapon tests supported the assumption that it would be very hard to hit. This would allow it to bear less armour and heavier weaponry, which was the second element in Fisher's perfect warship: large and far reaching guns would enable it to destroy any superior adversary from a safe distance. Since a large part of the admiralty did not share Fisher's preferences, the first major warship of the new post-Tsusuhima generation to be completed was HMS Dreadnought, which bore heavy armour and was rather slow. Fisher, however, did not let go that easily, and enforced the construction of his favourite ship. Just like Dreadnought outclassed every battleship built before, his project was to outclass every armoured cruiser ever constructed. Built with great secrecy and determination, HMS Invincible was put into service in 1908 and proved to be a complete success: not only did it revolutionize the concept of the Armoured Cruiser, but it also outstripped its contemporary counterpart, SMS Blücher, by a considerable amount. Its main purpose is to patrol the oceans and bring down enemy cruisers with its superior speed and armament, her armour was designed to withstand the weapons of small cruisers and even armoured cruisers. Any opponent with superior weaponry can be easily evaded and shot at from a safe distance. With HMS Invincible, a new breed of capital ship had appeared on the scene, and its appearance made a great impression on the navies of the world. The concept of the fast, well-armed ship was discussed in every major navy, the German and Japanese navies soon began to employ their own battlecruisers, and even the Russian navy has laid down a class of four similar ships, which will take some time to be completed yet. So far, the ships have performed most admirably and helped to clean the oceans from German raiders. Their most notable success surely is the Battle of the Falklands, where they destroyed a squadron of German armoured cruisers and cruisers without suffering any losses. Only last year, a fleet of five battlecruisers defeated the German battlecruiser force on the Dogger Bank, and the enemy armoured cruiser SMS Blücher was sunk. Ship data Relative combat value: 5969 Basic damage control capacity: 77% Dimensions Displacement: 17373 tons Length: 173 m Width: 22 m Draught: 9 m Standard crew: 784 Performance Maximum speed (undamaged): 25 knots Endurance: 5726 km Coal capacity: 3810 tons Armour protection Conning tower armour: 10 Hull armour: 4 Main belt armour: 9 (includes backing slope of deck armour) Deck armour: 1.5 (sloped at edges to provide additional belt level protection) Best armour type: Krupp Armament 8 x 12" Mk X, centrally controlled. Ammo: 640 rounds 12 x 4" QF Mk III, centrally controlled. Ammo: 1800 rounds 1x 12pdr 20cwt HA Mk I, locally controlled. Ammo: 200 rounds 4 x 18" Mk VII Torpedoes, locally controlled. Ammo: 12 torpedoes Ships in class * Invincible * Inflexible * Indomitable Category:Capital ship Category:Ship type Category:Royal Navy Category:Battlecruiser